For June of 2022, we read True Biz by Sara Novic, recommended by my daughter, Aretha who has followed the book club for the 20 years I have been part of this magnificent group of incredible readers! She was nervous to hear whether we thought it was befitting our book club.
I think the reaction was mixed at the start of the discussion, but as we delved into the many issues the book inspired us to think about, we had a great exchange of ideas and feelings about inclusion. Is inclusion always the best course if you are not able to share who you are in a genuine way with others? Why do we try to encourage the neuro-divergent to be more neuro-typical?
True Biz is a Young Adult novel that seeks to uncover the many issues of the deaf and hard of hearing community. The author cleverly inserts facts and figures about the deaf culture within the lesson plans for the students in the novel. From these facts, we did not know about how the deaf community was threatened by the eugenics movement. We also interested in the community on Martha's Vineyard and how the community of both hearing and non-hearing people were able to socialize and work together. Finally, learning about the nuances of sign language and how different geographical areas and cultural approaches led to dialects within American Sign Language.
Finally, closer to home, we talked about the Vermont boarding school, Austine School for the Deaf that was similar to the school described in the novel. Austine closed in 2014, under similar circumstances. We were amazed that we did not know and did not understand all of the issues surrounding this neuro-diverse group of students until we read and discussed this novel.
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| Austine School for the Deaf |
